Georgia trip advice

[cdavisdb]

I'm contemplating a trip to the Georgia coast and would appreciate some advice and local knowledge.

Possible trip: 8-12 days, maybe that long undeveloped stretch between Brunswick and Savannah, mostly anchor out, deserted beaches with my wife, a little fishing, crabbing, shrimping for protein. We can be completely self contained and would prefer to have the area to ourselves. My wife's definition of a good beach is one with no footprints except ours. Trip needs to be before it gets very cold(so we can swim) and not in mosquito season. I've meet salt marsh mosquitoes before and would rather not renew their aquaintance. Google earth looks like the area has lots of mostly uninhabited islands and beaches, narrow inlets with good protection for anchoring and what looks like decent depth approaching from seaward. I'm in a 25 I/O Seafari, which has more draft than a 23. Tidal range is a worry, but the area looks fabulous.

Anybody with some experience in that area or similar, South Carolina between Charleston and Georgetown, maybe? How do you handle the tidal range? Are those little inlets really navigable from the ocean? When to go? Can we get away from the mosquitoes? Seafood? Anything else I should be aware of? If I'm running along a couple of hundred yards off the beach, do I need to worry about depth at low tide?

Connor

[Old'sCool]

Chas here and have run the boat from Savannah to Socastee but not south of Sav. Shrimp are gone now and the water is too cold to swim. At least for my blood. The fish are SLOW but ocean reef fish plentiful. My choice would be Fall; Sept, Oct, Nov. for shrimp and inshore fish and the trip you describe. The larger inlets dont change enough to worry about for ocean access but the smaller ones do; Capers, Dewees, etc. There are more places to camp as you describe than you have days. A fire on island beachs requires a permit from DNR. A minor Paperwork formality. I'll try to provide more when you settle on dates/areas. Chas area is way boat overcrowded during prime weather especially om weekends.

[CaptMick]

Based on Hilton Head and on that water 90% of my time. Have run the ICW from St. Augustine to Beaufort SC and think the area you are talking about is really cool. Check out the camping available at the Cumberland Island National Seashore. That place is amazing.

Closer to me and up to Charleston a great resource is the Coastal Expeditions map. Made by a kayak outfitter from Charleston it lists all the boat ramps and marinas etc. for the entire South Carolina coast. Look up Jolly Shores on Daufuskie Island. Its a house with a dock on the ICW just north of the ICW cuts that put you in the Savannah River. Awesome spot to make a home base. Daufuskie has fairly undisturbed beaches. You would be in an area with 7.5 feet of average tide change and enough acres of salt marsh to get lost but also close to fuel at Hilton Head marinas and boat ramps. Oysters, shrimp, blue crab reds, trout, flounder etc.

Look at Camping at Hunting Island and Edisto Island state parks in South Carolina as well.

Amazing nature and history around here and seriously more salt marsh than you can imagine.

[cdavisdb]

Thanks guys,

This trip is a while off, I'm just gathering information.

Looks like St Catherines and Sapelo offer the most isolated and best nooks for anchoring close to the beach. Anybody know the inlets? Mcqueens? the smaller ones like the north end of Cabretta island? Google earth looks like they are navigable at high water.

Fall it will probably be, early fall. What will the mosquitos be like then?

Oysters? now you have my attention. Fond memories of Pawleys Island oysters and clams when I was a kid (and the water was still clean enough to eat them). If anybody knows a clam bed in that area, I'd be forever indebted. Any closed shellfish areas I need to be aware of?

[ocuyler]

Fun trip. Enjoy the planning.

[bilgerat]

a friend of mine grew up down there and runs a shallow water charter service on the ga coast, his name is capt TJ Cheek , look him up on facebook and give him a shout, he knows more about the Ga coast than anyone I know,
im sure he will be glad to help you out with some info

[Old'sCool]

The old adage for oysters is any month with an "R". The water needs to be cold for me. SCDNR posts closures and commercial/rec maps on their site. I feel sure Ga would also.

[CaptMick]

Check out this NOAA site- PDF's of smaller charts you can look at on your computer for info. I'd compare these with Google earth to come up with an idea of where you want to go.

http://www.charts.noaa.gov/PDFs/PDFs.shtml

Good luck and if your worried about mosquitos use a bug spray with deet. Not sure if they are worse down there but not a huge issue near me due to control efforts and even in remote areas not bad from lack of standing fresh water. Control efforts may be less down there due to smaller human population and tourism where you are looking than near me. Long sleeves and pants help too.

[shine]

check out the spots between Savannah and Brunswick. Many of the barrier islands are completely protected (Sapelo/blackbeard Island)

You can find hundreds of miles of salt marsh, but your not too far from a restaurant or marina if you want

[cdavisdb]

Again, thanks to all. I'll find Capt Cheek and that website for charts is very useful. Knowing the state keeps up with closures helps. That's like Florida, I can deal with that.

Do I have this right? Mosquitos don't come from the salt marsh, too much salt water. They will be bad on the undeveloped islands if there is standing fresh water. Correct? That would open up both a lot of time and a lot of area.

Its going to be a head adjustment to have to anchor at high tide in 10 ft of water to not be aground at low.

In that area in the early fall, any idea how long you can leave a boat in the water with no bottom paint?